Billion-dollar-plus IPOs set to drive equity market fundraise: Kotak Investment Banking

Mumbai: India's equity capital markets are set for another strong year in calendar 2026, with total issuance volumes expected to cross ₹6 lakh crore, supported by a deep pipeline of initial public offerings, qualified institutional placements, block deals and yield-oriented products, according to Kotak Investment Banking. IPO issuance alone is projected at around ₹2.5 lakh crore in CY26, with new-age technology and consumer-facing companies continuing to dominate the market.

"A lot of billion-dollar-plus IPOs will happen, and probably anywhere between 35% of the fundraise will be from large IPOs," said V Jayasankar, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, at a press briefing. "New-age companies will continue to be in the forefront of fundraising, as we saw last year." The upbeat outlook follows a mixed year for equity capital markets in CY25. While overall ECM volumes fell 18% year-on-year to ₹5.1 lakh crore from ₹6.1 lakh crore in CY24, IPO activity bucked the trend, growing 13% despite global volatility and a risk-off environment. Mergers and acquisitions activity is also expected to improve, with deal volumes projected to rise 10-15% in CY26.

Domestic institutional investors are expected to remain the primary drivers of ECM activity. In CY25, they played a key role in absorbing foreign outflows of nearly $19 billion, supported by DII inflows of about $90 billion. DIIs accounted for nearly 60% of anchor book participation in public offerings during the year, up from 40% in CY24, Jayasankar said.

Kotak Investment Banking also expects yield-oriented products such as real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts to continue attracting capital in 2026. REITs and InvITs together raised about ₹28,000 crore in CY25, aided by favourable regulations and investor preference for stable income amid falling interest rates and a sideways equity market.

The firm expects QIPs and block deals to remain robust in CY26 as well, with rising average deal sizes pointing to a year of mega issuances.